Aerial vessel.



C. J. PAYNE.

AERIAL VESSEL,

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 24, 1908.

1 82,699. Patented July 16, 1912.

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C. J. PAYNE.

AERIAL VESSEL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24. 1908:

1,032,699. Patented July 16, 1912.

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AERIAL VESSEL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24. 1908.

Patented July 16, 1912.

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nventoz G. J. PAYNE.

AERIAL VESSEL. APPLICATION FILED APR. 24. 1908.

1,03%,699. Patented Ju1y16, 1912.

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AERIAL VESSEL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24, 1908.

1,032,699. Patented July 16, 1912.

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nvenl oz' -Vessels, of which the following is 1ED sA "as ATENT oFnioE.

' omnnns .1. mm, or PHILADELPHIA, rmmsnvam AERIAL VESSEL.

i Specification of Letter: Patent.

Application filed April 24, 1908. Serial No. 428,944.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES J. Fix Yum, a citizen of the United States, residlng at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and

State of. Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aerial a specification.

This invention relates to aerial vessels.

The invention has for its objects the provision of an aerial vessel having a novel hollow body to contain a buoyant element; means carried by the vessel for supplying the body with a buoyant element; propelling and maneuvering means of novel construction and arrangement; and, generally, to provide an aerial vessel of novel construction and provided with novel instrumentalities whereby it may be made to ascend or descend, propelled, and maneuvered, with, facility, have capacity for great speed, be of light construction, economical to operate, and safe in operation.

I'n'carrying out the invention a hollow metallic or distended body having a flat under surface is employed, propelling and maneuvering fans or propellers of novel arrangement and operation are used, novel gas or,

. gasolene turbines are utilized for driving may supply the heated air and gases to the interior of the body to afford the requisite buoyancy to the vessel, the fans or propellers are arranged in a new manner, a novel device is utilized for the exploding of the air and gasolene mixture subsequently supplied to the turbine, and a novel arrangement of gasolene containing compartments is employed, together with other improved and novel features, all of which as thus far developed are set forth fully hereinafter and embodied in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawingsz-Figure 1 is a side view of my'aerial vessel; Fig. 2, a plan view thereof; Fig. 3, an end elevation looking in the direction of the arrow of Fig.

1 but with the combined elevating and pro-' pelling fans turned into an upright position; Fig. 4, a sectional view of the car,

showing the devices carried thereby; Fig. 5, a plan View of the car; Fig. 6, a detail sideview, certain parts being in section, of the The body 1 is a hollow metal shell, ref- Patented July 16, 1912.

erably of aluminum, having. a convexe top and a flat under surface 2, the latter constituting-an aeroplane, enabling the vessel to I be readily directed u ward or downward or maintained at the desired level besides acting somewhat in the natureof a parachute when the vessel is descending. The body 1 is provided with discharge pipes 3 for discharging the surplus gaseous contents of the body rearwardly and, in a measure, aiding in the propulsion of the vessel.

The car 4 (Fig. 5) is pointed at its forward end and is more or less of the shape of the hull of a boat to minimize its resistance to the air and wind and is readily secured to the body 1 by front and rear braces 5 and 6; stays 7 are also employed 4 and center braces 8 suspend the car at its central part from the body 1, additional center braces 9 passing underneath the cen tral part of the car, and in the upper ends of said braces 9 and in the upper ends of the braces 8 there is journaled a shaft 10 which extends transversely of the body along the minor axis thereof, tie rods or cables 11 staying the ends of the shaft 10 to the ends of the body 1. Secured to the shaft 10 are the fan or propeller frames 12 and 13. J ournaled in suitable bearings carried by the frames 12 and 13 are the shafts of the fans 14 and to these frames there are secured the casings of turbines 15 which are of the construction shown in Figs. 7 and 8. These turbines embrace shell sections 16 and 17 provided with suitable packed boxes or glands 18, one of the sections being provided with serrations or pockets 19 arrangedperipherally interiorly thereof, the sections being secured together-by bolts 19 and having ports 20 leading to the exhaust 21. The supply pipe 22 which brings the exploded gases to the turbine passes through one of the boxes 18 and leads into the shell section 16. The piston 23 has a hollow body in communication by port 24 with pipe in Figs.

- or in some inclined position, according to is provided with a shaft 27 journaled in the remainingbox 18 and is also revolubly mounted on the pipe 22 by the employment of the gland or coupling 28. The fans 14 are secured on the shafts 27 and the pipes 22 lead from the respective turbines 15 to a universal pipe joint or coupling 29 which connects them to the supply pipe 30.

The exhaust from the outlets 21 may be carried by a pipe to the body 1 via a umversal joint or coupling or discharge into the air, as shown.

Depending from the rear of the body 1 is a hanger 33, a frame 34 (F igs. 1 and 6) being journaled in the CI0SS:I)18COS'33 of the hanger 33 by the trunnions 35. The

frame 34 has bearings in which the shaft 36 of the steering propeller 37 isjournaled. A turbine '38, in all respects similar to the turbine disclosed in Figs. 7 and 8 1s secured to the frame 34 and its shaft connected to or formed in one piece with the shaft 36, said turbine having a supply pipe 39 connected by a swivel coupling 40 to the main supply pipe 41, while the exhaust passing throng the discharge 21 of the turbine may be carried by a pipe to the body 1 via aswivel as shown.

coupling or discharge into the air, The frame 34 may be swung laterally by steering ropes or cables 44 leading to a steering wheel 45 in the car 4, whereby the steering propeller wheel 37 may be turned laterally to any desired angle and thus both act as a propeller and rudder to steer the vessel.

The shaft 10 and the propellers 14 and supply pipes carried by said shaft may be swung from the horizontal position shown 1 and 2 to the vertical or other 1nclined positions such as shown in Fig. 3 by a sprocket chain 46 running over a sprocket 47 carried by shaft 10 and a sprocket 48 connected to a hand-wheel 49 carried by the car 4. The propellers 14 will be disposed in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 when the vessel is ascending or descending circumstances but when the vessel is to travel forwardly or rearwardly, the shaft 10 will be turned to bring the propellers into the upright position shown in Fig. 3. By this arrangement I dispense with separate lifting or descending and propelling fans or propelers which have heretofore been emloye P Carried by a shaft 50 suitably journaled in the car 4 is a propeller 51 which is controlled by a clutch 52 from a shaft 53 connected to the rotary piston of a turbine 54- of the construction hereinbefore set forth, said turbine having a supply pipe 55 controlled by a valve 56 and having an exhaust pipe 57 leading to the interior of the body 1. The supply pipes'30 and 41 have controlling valves 58 and 59, said pipes leading 'to a trunk pipe 60 which is also connected tothe exhaust pipe 57 by a short pipe 61 having a suitable controlling valve, this arrangement permitting the exploded gases to be fed direct into the interior of the body 1 when it is desired to initially fill the body 'or to supplement the gaseous products received therein from the turbines.

@ A combustion chamber or cylinder 62 (Fig. 9), which is equipped with a pressure gage and a safety valve, is carried by the car 4 and has its exhaust pipe 65 connected to the trunk pipe 60. This combustion chamber or cylinder will be made of suit-able material capable of safely sustaining a hi h pressure and which may be safely broug t to a high temperature without damage thereto. The combustion cylinder is provided with any desired number of spark plugs 66 of any preferred pattern, the same being in circuit by suitable wires 67 to a suitable battery and spark coil 68 carried by the car 4.

The car 4 carries a number of independe ent gasolene tanks 69, each having its own filling opening and all of which are connected by'branch pipes 70 (Fig. 4) to a main pipe 71 which is continued as pipe 72 (Fig. 5) having a suitable controlling valve 73. There is an independent air and gasolene pump 74 which is operated from shaft 53 by the variable speed gear 75 which controls the supply of gasolene and air pumped into a pipe 76 having a controlling valve 77, said plpeleading to the combustion cylinder 62 (Fig. 9). Other controlling valves 78 and 79 may be employed.

In the event of injury to gasolene tanks or compartments, the supply of gasolene is not lost as sutficient will remain in the other compartments to properly operate the vessel until repairs can be made. The gasolene and air are pumped into the combustion chamber or cylinder 62 and the mixture is exploded by the spark plugs. but

as the explosions continue the combustion chamber will rise in temperature until it gets so hot that it will automatically explode the asolene and air without resort to the spark plugs, the repeated explosions bringing the gases to the requisite pressure for their supply to any or all of the turbines, the various turbines being under control of the occupants of the car so that all or such of the propellers may be operated as desired, according to the maneuvers the vessel is required to make, the exhaust from the turbine 54 passing into the body and, on acany one of the V count of extremely rarefied character of the sam'e, furnishing a buoyant element which sustains the vessel after it has reached the desired height for horizontal travel. "In ascending or descending, the propellers 14 are used, while the steering propeller 37 aids the propulsion of the vessel and also acts'as may be simultaneously disposed in horizona rudder to guidethe course of travel al though the main propelling effect is obtained by the propellers 14 after they have been turned to-the' position shown in ig; 3. The propeller 51 imparts a direct propulsion to the car and hence balanes the propelling action and assists in maintaining the car 1n upright position.

Having thus described my inventiomwhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters" Patent, is

1. In an aerial vessel, the combination with supporting means therefor, of propellers located on opposite sideso'f said supporting means and mounted so-that they tal, vertical, or any intermediate position, a self-contained gas turbine for each propeller and mounted to swing therewith, and a as generator carried by the vessel adapted or supplying gas to all of the turbines.-

2. In an aerial vessel, the combination with a hollow buoyant metallic body, of a heated exhaust gas is admitted thereto, and generating means carried by the body a rotary propeller therefor, a rotary gas tur.-

bine' foroperating the propeller, a plpe connecting the turbine exhaust with the interior of the hollow buoyant body whereby the gas and aving a connectlon .with the turbine to supply the gas thereto.

producing pipe sectlons being connected together by a 3. In an aerial 'vessel, the combination with supporting meanstherefor, of a rotary swingin .propeller therefor, a gas turbine mount to swing bodily-with the propeller and connected to it and adapted to rotate said propeller, means carried by the vessel for supplying gas to the turbine, and a pipe composed of rigid pipe sections connected.

respectively to the turbine and to the gas means aforesaid, thesaid rigid 'swi vel joint.

4. In an aerial vessel, a car its sldes on opposite sides of 1ts center a'n pivoted along at its end parts on opposite sides ofsaid cen:

ter with a plurality of independent motive flui'd contalning compartments, a power CHARLES J. PAYNE.

Witnesses: I I

CHARLES W. ,Pam, SAMUEL J. E sner. 

